ITunes cannot find original file

Approx. 1/3 of my iTunes library has an exclamation point next to it (since the recent upgrade) All of the songs are in the iTunes library. In fact, when it asks if I want to find locate the file, I navigate to the iTunes library, and click on the 'missing' song. Then iTunes recognizes it. I don't want to have to do this 1000 times. Any suggestions?? (I've repaired permissions, and had iTunes re-index the iTunes library)

I have my music on an external drive, too, and have had the same problem. With previous iTunes, I was able to simply go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced and changed the iTunes Music Location Folder to my external drive. This used to get rid of all the exclamation points. Right after I updated to the newest iTunes, though, I also added hapsody Player to my computer so I could load music on my phone. Somehow, either the iTunes update or Rhapsody changed my iTunes Music Location Folder back to my C: drive. All my music had the exclamation point again. Grr....I went back to preferences and changed the folder location, and it worked almost completely. Out of my 26000 songs, I'd guess that less than 200 have the exclamation point now. Maybe you'll have better luck if you try the same thing.

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I have exclamation marks and itunes cannot find original file?

I have exclamation marks and itunes cannot find original file. How do I locate original file?

Check you have your iTunes settings (Edit, Preferences, Advanced) to keep iTunes library organised.
Your songs should be in your music library in iTunes, iTunes Media, Music.
If they are not, start menu, type the name of a song in the box and the list should show you where that is located.

FYI: How to Fix "iTunes Cannot Find Original File" Error

Yesterday morning, I opened iTunes and tried to play a file. I got the old "iTunes cannot find the original file" error. I tried another file. Same thing. I tried restarting iTunes, holding down the shift key, and making sure iTunes knew where my Library file was. Yep. Still no dice. So I came here, and did a search for help. I could not find any definitive answers to this question. So I did a Google search and found the fix in an old Metafilter thread. Given that this problem seems a little common, I thought I'd post my solution here, for anyone who has this issue in the future.
First things first, make sure that it's not just an issue of pointing iTunes to your current library location. Go to your advanced preferences and double-check the library location path. If this doesn't fix it, then it's time to go my route:
1) Open your iTunes folder in windows explorer. Look for a file called "itunes library.xml". Copy that file to your desktop or somewhere else so that it's backed up...in case something goes wrong.
2) Open the original XML file in notepad (right-click, "open with", "notepad").
3) In this XML file, you will see a paragraph of information for every file you have (songs, podcasts, videos, etc.). In each of those paragraphs, there is a file path specifying where the file is supposed to reside. This is how the itunes library.itl file knows where to look. In my case, it should have been "e:/my music/itunes", but instead, it was "e:/my music/itunes/itunes music". The program had created that folder for some reason, and all my files were pointing there.
4) Check a few of the paragraphs and see if they are pointing to your actual music folder. If so, then you have another problem...sorry. If not, then continue on:
5) Go to edit->replace (or control-H). In the "find what" box, enter the incorrect file path (in my case, e:/my music/itunes/itunes music"). In the "replace with" box, enter the correct path of your itunes music folder (in my case, "e:/my music/itunes". Then click "replace all".
If you have a lot of songs, this may take awhile. I have over 25,000 files, so it took at least 18 hours.
6) When it's done, quit notepad and save the XML file. Open iTunes. If it doesn't automatically start updating your library, then try to play a song. If you get the same old error, then quite iTunes, then re-open it, go to the advanced preferences and select the correct file path for the library location. This should fix it.

I am also finding many "ghost file" duplicate files (with the exclamation point "can not locate files" message), after pointing Itunes version 8.2.1.6 to my music folder on a separate, networked hard drive. My understanding is that the "Consolidate Files" feature in Itunes is supposed to properly identify all of the file locations, but it only worked for about 1/5 of our 10,000 plus files before it stopped running. (I've read in other forums that this software is buggy, and gets confused with long song titles, etc.)It also leaves you with duplicate "ghost" files to delete, when the music from the separate drive is "added".
I can not find a file called ituneslibrary.xml to try your suggestion, when I open my Itunes folder. When I do "get info" on the individual music files in Itunes that can't be located, the "where" field = "not available". I have doublechecked the library location in preferences and it is properly pointed to "K:\itunes" which is the correct location.

Itunes cannot find original file would u like to locate it

I have backed up my music to dvds and now want to delete the backup from my desktop. as far as i knew itunes stored all the music but when i delete my backup music ,itunes asks me to locate the songs. surely i dont have to keep 2 sets of all my music on my hard drive? hope someone can help me.
Message was edited by: itouch gaz in special places

You might have changed the name of a folder in which you stored much of your music. I recently changed the name of a major music folder in my computer, and I had to recover all of the files. Think: Have you changed any folder names recently? If nothing else, search for the name of one of the songs on Windows. This will help you find the other ones. Since they were all lost at the same time, they're bound to be related by a parent folder. Recovering each individual song is a pain, though. You may want to just upload them by the folder once you re-locate them, rather than telling iTunes where each and every song is individually.
You could've also deleted the folder that the music was located in. If you've emptied it out of your recycling bin, say bye-bye to your music.
Dell Windows XP

I am getting an exclamation point in front of all tracks and message itunes cant find original file. How do I resolve

I am getting an exclamation point in front of all tracks and message itunes cant find original file. How do I resolve

Hey waltee911,
It sounds like you're seeing something similar to this picture:
If that's the case, the following article has troubleshooting steps to solve the issue:
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
Welcome to Apple Support Communities!
Sincerely,
Delgadoh

When I click a number to play in iTunes, I get a pop-up that says "cannot find original file", Please help.

The above problem goes for all my more then 2000 songs. I get the option to search but that doesn't give any results as well.
I upgraded to Lion 2 weeks ago.
Any ideas?

Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other.
It is possible that in the upgrade to Lion iTunes has been installed with the current default options while your library is based on an older structure. Use Get Info. on a missing track, click cancel when asked to locate it and look at the path given on the summary tab. Now look for the actual file with Finder. Post both paths back here and we can try to make sense of the problem.
tt2

ITunes cannot find music files, confuses inodes, external drive

I have all my music on an external drive, which is not always connected to the Mac. When I start iTunes w/o the hdd connected iTunes occasionally marks some of the songs as not found. Which is ok so far. BUT if it finds the same inode (of the original file on the external hdd) on the internal hdd it changes the location of the songs to the internal hdd. In my case to files like /Previous System/<some path>/Info.plist. So iTunes thinks the files are still there and cannot play them. After deleting all the Previous Systems files iTunes marks all those files as not found, that is, it does not search for the inode on the external hdd again. Very confusing.
Yesterday I started from scratch with an empty iTunes Library (I moved the original one) and the problem reoccurred instantly after I imported all my music, quit iTunes, disconnected the external HDD and started iTunes again. So some of my songs are lost, iTunes will never find them again w/o me reimporting them. Also the problem might occur anytime in the future and I seem to not be able to cure it, because iTunes tried to be intelligent. But how it can confuse inodes w/o looking at the device ID and why the songs did not return after I removed the /Previous Systems folder I cannot image.
I checked the inodes on the internal and external hdd for some of the songs and they were indeed identical. So iTunes seems reset the path/location in the Library DB if it can find the inode of a song which it cannot find by path. Why it does not look at the device id in combination with the inode# is a mystery.
Some additional details:
iTunes Music Folder Location: on external hdd
The Library files are on the internal hdd at ~/Music/iTunes.
I hope someone can answer that. I do not want to start from scratch every week. I hope my iPod which holds all the songs synchs meta info like play count and rating back as well.
Kind regards, soryu2.

And further....
I went into iTunes to try to download all my purchased music. Some, but not all, is showing up under iTunes>iTunes Media>Music. It looks like the library thinks some if the music is there, but it actually is not.
Seems like my library is corrupted (or something).
Since I have to upload all music from CD anyway, should I delete my iTunes library and start over, first by downloading all purchased music.

I am getting a message on most of my tunes "cannot find original file" what happened????

Help!!! I have most of my iTunes marked with an EXCLAIMATON MARK! and when I click on them it says the original file cannot be found....I did not delete anything yet when I synced my iPad yesterday only 54 songs loaded...........WHAT HAPPENED??? Did I loose all my music...can I get them back...does iTunes have copies of all my songs somewhere that I can retrieve them????? I have most of them on my iPod nano...can that be synced back to iTunes??? Yikes, HELP!!!

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

After installing update I have the "cannot find original file" message

After installing the latest version of iTunes to my pc today, the vast majority of my songs have a message "The song XX could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" Yes I would! Any help much appreciated.

The "missing file" error happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, one of its parent folders, or the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout, or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place. (In the case of a library moved from one system to another there are also potential permissions issues. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows if this might apply.)
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to Get Info, then click No when asked to try to locate the track. (Due to a bug in iTunes 12 you currently have to say No twice!) Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, a folder renamed, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. If the difference between the two paths is an additional Music folder in one path then this is a layout issue. I can explain further if that is the case.
In some cases iTunes may be able to repair itself if you go through the same steps with Get Info but this time click Locate and browse to the lost track. It may then offer to attempt to automatically fix other broken links. Although it says something like "use the same location" it expects to find the tracks in the same artist & album layout that it generates, not all in one big folder.
If another application like Windows Media Player has moved/renamed the files then the chances are that subtle differences in naming strategies will make it hard to restore the media to the precise path that iTunes is expecting. In such cases, as long as the missing files can be found somewhere, you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes. See this post for an explanation of how it works.
tt2

HT1926 itunes cannot locate original file for large amount of music in library

When I open itunes it cannot find some of the tunes I have uploaded onto the library from CD's etc.

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

ITunes not finding original files?

When I open iTunes on my PC, the songs all have exclamation marks beside them. When I click on the song, it says "the song could npot be used because the original file could not be found". All my songs have either been copied from a CD or purchased through iTunes. Is there a way to fix this without manually pointing iTunes to each file for all my 600+ songs?
Thank you!

The exclamation marks (and the accompanying note) inidicate the files aren't located where iTunes expects them to be. This most often happens when the files have been deleted, renamed or moved to a different location than where iTunes expects them to be.
If the files are still on your computer but have been moved, the best solution is to get them back where they were in the first place. iTunes will be able to find them again - happy ending.
Sometimes though, it seems iTunes loses track of files for no apparent reason. In that case, you can start with a new iTunes library. Regrettably, this method loses playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.)
If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes File menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You remove the entries from your Library but keep the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, assuming that's where they are in the first place.
You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column).

Itunes cannot find music files

I know I've seen this problem before but can't remember the solution. When attempting to play an Itunes song I get a box saying "song could not be used because the original file could not be found". I've checked under advanced for the proper music folder location and that is correct. Could someone help me again.
Thanks in advance.
Dale

If you hold down the option key when you open iTunes you should be able to point it to the library that you want to open.
Is you extrernal drive formatted in NTFS? That might be causing an issue with your Mac seeing it.

Missing songs: half of the songs in my library have suddenly become unplayable because iTunes "cannot locate original file" whats caused this and how do i fix it?

Its really irritating having all my songs there one day and having half of them go missing the next and i haven't done anything to cause the files to be lost, on top of that it's completely randomised in what songs have gone missing as it is not whole albums, individual songs from different albums are going missing and it's telling me to find the files, which i have no idea where to look or what to do, it has rendered iTunes completely useless for me. Does anyone else have this problem? How did you fix it?

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

ITunes library cannot find 'original file'

Good morning. My iTunes (10.4) library has inexplicably unlinked from the files in my iTune music folder. Is there a way to relink these without going song by song? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

have a look at this thread
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3255913

HT201272 How can I recover music I've purchased from iTunes store when my iTunes cannot find the file

I cannot re-download music I purchased from the iTunes store. I followed the instructions from iTunes support but that did not work.
When I find the music in the iTunes store under purchases, it states "downloaded" and will not let me re-download it.
What other tricks are there to use. I do not have the music on an iPod or CD because I always thought that once you bought it on iTunes, you could always re-download it if you got a new computor, etc.

If they appear under the Purhcased link as 'downloaded' then do you still have them listed in your iTunes library (where you would click on them to play them) ? If youdo then iTunes assumes that you still have them somewhere, and that there is no need to re-download them - try deleting one of them from your library and it should then get the cloud symbol for re-downloading.

ITunes cannot find original file

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